According to sources close to Volkswagen, the company has decided to push back the launch of a second generation Phaeton full-size sedan.

According to sources close to Volkswagen, the company has
decided to push back the launch of a second
generation Phaeton full-size sedan.

The current Phaeton has been nothing but trouble for
Volkswagen and it's actually their slowest selling model on sale today. To
understand the magnitude of the Phaeton's failure, only 4,000 units were sold
last year (down by 30% compared to 2013) and it's even more unpopular than the
defunct Eos convertible. The €89,650 model came to life in 2002 after former chairman Ferdinand
Piech ordered a rival for a Mercedes-Benz S-Class, but the model never
really took off and it is believed Volkswagen lost €28,000 on each car sold
between 2002 and 2012.

Development of a successor has been finalized, but
it seems VW already has issues with the new version since they have delayed the
model's launch in order to lower production and material costs. This decision
has been taken part of Volkswagen’s big plan to maximize profits by cutting
costs with assembly.

It comes as a big surprise that Piech's pet project wasn't
axed immediately after he stepped down as chairman back in April. The new one is also
envisioned as an S-Class competitor, but that doesn't make a lot of sense
taking into account the Audi A8 is supposed to fulfill this role. What's even
more confusing is the fact that a base A8 is actually €8,650 cheaper than the
entry-level Phaeton in Germany. The top brass at Volkswagen probably think the
company needs a flagship model with the VW badge to boost the core brand's image,
but if it will be priced like the outgoing model, it's doomed to fail.